Chapter Thirty Six: The Crystal Heart
Shining Armor stood on the balcony, focusing all of his power into keeping the barrier alive. With Cadance still resting the duty of keeping the empire safe fell on him. If he were to fail than King Sombra would be able to march right in and take over. Of course, with Vegito here it would be difficult for the unicorn king to do so, but the state of Vegito's hands proved it wasn't impossible.
The Saiyan looked to the unicorn. "How long do you think you can hold out?"
"As long as I can." He answered with determination.
"Don't worry brother, while you're keeping the empire safe I'll retrieve the Heart!" Twilight exclaimed as she ran into the castle.
"Let's do this!" Rainbow followed her friend.
Before following them Vegito looked over to Shining Armor. "If you feel like you can't go on wake Cadance up immediately! I don't know how long this search will take, so we need to keep the Crystal Empire safe as long as we can."
Shining Armor nodded. "I will. Good luck Vegito."
The fused warrior could sense his friends moving deeper into the castle. Without wasting time he ran into the castle. Using his senses he navigated through the huge structure, doing so at a very fast rate. In practically no time at all he reached his friends.
"What? With that thing moving into the Empire?"
"The whole purpose of the Crystal Faire is to lift the spirits of the Crystal Ponies, so they can activate the Crystal Heart." Twilight explained.
"Yeah, and?"
"If the ponies find out that King Sombra's returned they're going to panic, and that's the opposite of what we want."
Both ponies looked to their left and noticed Vegito running along side them. They weren't at all surprised that he caught up with them so quickly. Twilight then shook her head. "Vegito's right. And if the ponies' spirits aren't lifted It won't matter if I find the Crystal Heart. They won't be able to make it work." The trio exited the castle a few seconds later. "You have to keep them happy here at the Faire."
"Keep the Faire going and the Crystal Ponies' spirits high. Done and done!" The cyan mare saluted before flying off.
"I hope you know I'm coming with you." The Saiyan told the unicorn.
Hearing that made the pony tense up slightly. "I appreciate the offer, but I'd much rather do this on my own."
He scoffed in response. "I know this is part of your test and you have to do it alone, but that doesn't mean I can't help you." He stated, making her smile lightly. "Besides, I'll be much more useful helping search for the Heart than at this Faire."
"And also because the sight of a strange creature might not help calm the Crystal Ponies." Twilight noted.
"Yeah, that too." Vegito then grabbed his friend and leapt up onto the balcony, ignoring her screams of terror. Upon landing he set his friend down. "Alright, now we just need to figure out where to look."
Twilight was still shaken up by the fact that her friend had just jumped almost a hundred feet in the air like it was nothing. By now that shouldn't really have surprised her, yet it still managed to do so. Most likely because she experienced it firsthoof.
"Hey, Twilight!"
Upon hearing her name being called the mare snapped out of her thoughts. "Huh? What?"
Vegito looked at her puzzled. "Are you okay?"
"Yeah I'm fine, I guess I'm not as used to jumping hundreds of feet into the air as you are." She explained.
"Oh yeah, sorry." He apologized while rubbing the back of his head. He then shook his head lightly. "So, Twilight, since this is your test where do you think we should look?"
The purple mare paused for a moment, all the while putting a hoof to her chin. One of the first things she noticed about the Crystal Empire was just how big it was. It might not have had as many buildings as Canterlot, but the sheer size of the empire seemed to make it even larger. So that meant that the real Crystal Heart could be anywhere!
It was then that a thought occurred to her. If she was going to find it she needed to think like the pony who hid it. The unicorn knew next to nothing about King Sombra, but she figured he was just like any other evil ruler. So where would an evil king hide an empire's most important item? If she were to guess it would be where nopony would think to... look... "That's it!"
"That was quick." The Saiyan quipped.
"I know where the Crystal Heart is, It's inside the castle!" Twilight exclaimed heroically.
Vegito raised an eyebrow. "Are you sure?"
She nodded. "The king would've been counting on the fact that nopony would dare come looking for it there. They'd have been too afraid to even try."
"That... makes sense actually. If this was once King Sombra's castle nopony would want to look in there." He concluded.
Once again the mare nodded. "Exactly."
With the plan formed the two were ready to start the search. Vegito took a few steps forward. "Come on, we'd better get going. Time is of the essence."
Shining Armor watched as his sister and his hero bolted into the castle. And as much as he wanted to help them he couldn't. Without him keeping the shield going King Sombra would have a much easier time getting to the empire. So, he stayed on the balcony, hoping that they could find the Crystal Heart sooner rather than later. 'I know you can do it Twily.'
Applejack stood guard next to the fake Crystal Heart. Her job was simple, all she had to do was keep the ponies from seeing it. If the ponies were to find out that the Crystal Heart wasn't real there was sure to be panic. Luckily the mare was keeping watch, and although Rainbow Dash 'helped' keep the ponies away Applejack sent her away.
A mare with a blue coat and purple mane walked over to where the Heart was located.
"How are y'all feelin'? Havin' a good time?"
"The best I've had in over a thousand years!" Sapphire Joy answered as she tried to get a good look at the Heart.
"Well, that's good!" The farmpony told her as she blocked her view. She then started walking forward, pushing the curious mare away from the fake Heart. "Gotta renew that spirit of love and unity if you're gonna power up that Crystal Heart, right?"
"I sure would like to see it before the ceremony. It's been such a long time."
"Oh, I hear ya, but, uh... phew! Gettin' a little toasty out here. Bet you'd like to cool off with a little Crystal Empire nectar!" She pointed to the cart in front of her and to her relief the mare left her alone.
Applejack breathed a sigh of relief before noticing somepony attempting to look at the Heart. She instantly ran over to stop him. "Uh, you tried the Crystal Empire fritters yet?" She held out a bowl of the baked treats. "Made from a traditional Crystal Empire recipe! You're gonna love 'em!" She tossed them away upon noticing somepony else in the area. "Uh, I hear there's a joustin' match about to start! You don't wanna miss that!" With the pony gone she sighed again. "Come on, Twilight, Vegito... These Crystal Ponies are more curious than a cat!"
Spike ran up the stairs to the castle as fast as he could. When he heard the terrible news he knew he couldn't just sit around and wait. So he set out to find Twilight and Vegito in the hopes that he could help them. It just didn't feel right to sit around while they were out trying to save the empire. That, and he wanted to tag along because it sounded like fun.
The drake bolted through the halls of the castle, all the while trying to find his friends. It was times like these that he wished he could sense ki. 'Maybe that's the first thing I'll have Vegito teach me.' He continued his search, but it was quickly becoming apparent that it wouldn't be easy. It didn't help that there wasn't anypony around to ask for directions.
"Spike?"
Hearing his name being called startled the dragon, as evidenced by how high he jumped into the air. He turned around and saw Vegito standing a few feet away from him. His eyes lip up upon seeing him. "Finally! I was beginning to think I'd never find you." He stated with a smile.
"What are you doing here, why aren't you at the faire?"
"Well I heard the situation and I wanted to help out so I came here looking for you and Twilight."
Vegito raised a skeptical eyebrow, not totally buying his friend's reason.
Spike let out a nervous chuckle in response to the accusing look. "Okay, you caught me. I want to be a part of this adventure, it sounds cool."
"While I admire your enthusiasm I don't think Twilight would want you here." He could see the sadness wash over the drake, and he merely let out a sigh. "It's nothing against you, she just really wants to do this herself."
"Then how come you get to come?" He asked.
"Because this is important. Besides, would you rather have the most powerful warrior in the universe searching for the Heart, or supervising some faire?"
The drake couldn't really argue with that logic. "Yeah that makes sense." He then looked at his friend hopefully. "So can I come along or what?"
The fused Saiyan put a hand to his chin. "Well, I know Twilight would object... but this would be a good opportunity for some training."
Upon hearing that Spike's eyes lit up. "Really, I get to come?!"
"Yep." He nodded. A chuckle escaped his mouth as he watched the dragon dance around excitedly. "Just remember, this is Twilight's test. So all I want you to do is watch and observe."
"Right." Spike saluted.
Vegito grabbed his friend before placing two fingers to his forehead. A split second later they vanished.
Twilight stood in the throne room, barely able to contain her excitement. She and Vegito had gone to the throne room in the hopes that the Crystal Heart would be nearby. While they didn't find the Heart Twilight noticed something odd about the crystal on top of the throne. It looked just like the one from Canterlot, which made her remember her meeting with the princess prior to her departure.
After coming back to reality she noticed her friend had left, and she was unsure where he had gone. Realizing that either A: he was needed for a mission from the Supreme Kais, or B: went to look somewhere else in the castle. She figured that it didn't really matter too much. The mare had a feeling that he would return before long. He always did.
She then decided to put her theory to the test. Using the same spell Celestia used in Canterlot she shot a dark beam from her horn. The beam hit the crystal and created a shadow that traveled down the throne and onto the floor. Upon reaching the floor a big chunk of it vanished, revealing a huge winding staircase.
"Alright, time to get to work." The tip of her horn started glowing as she prepared to make her descent.
Not a second later the sound of somepony materializing was heard. The potara fused warrior and the baby dragon appeared behind the unicorn. "Woah!" Spike muttered as he caught sight of the gaping hole in the room.
"Spike? What in Equestria are you doing here?" Twilight asked.
"I brought him here." Vegito explained as he joined the mare.
The blue maned unicorn shot him a glare. "Look, I was fine with you coming along, but that didn't mean you could invite everypony!"
"I saw this as a good opportunity to train him. Not in the physical sense, but more mental." He noticed the still uneasy, and somewhat angry look on her face. "Relax, you're still in charge. I just want to get an early start with Spike."
"Ugh, fine." She relented. The mare then gave her assistant a hard look. "But you're not to lift a claw Spike, understand?"
"Yep." He smiled.
She smiled in return. "Good. Now let's get going." The unicorn took one last look down before beginning the journey down the seemingly endless spiral staircase.
Spike took a good look down as well before turning towards Vegito. "Do we really have to walk all the way down there?"
The Saiyan looked over to the purple drake with a smirk. "You should be grateful that you even get to come along." He told him before following the unicorn. "Besides, every little bit of exercise counts towards your training."
If it weren't for the constant reminder of training Spike would have simply passed. So he merely sighed as he trailed his friends. "Hey, wait up!" He called out as he quickened his pace.
Twilight wasn't quite using her full speed. While she knew time was sensitive she also knew that being safe was better than being reckless. The last thing she wanted was to accidentally trip and possibly fall to her death. Although she would hope that Vegito would save her. 'I should have specified that it's okay to save me from dying.' The more she thought about it though the more she realized it kind of went without saying.
Vegito was taking a leisurely stroll down the staircase, having caught up to the unicorn already. Had he been using his full speed he could have easily gone up and down the hundreds of steps multiple times, although multiple times was an understatement.
"Slow down guys!" The drake yelled. Unfortunately part of the step he was on broke off and he lost his footing. Due to the loss in balance he fell right off the side, screaming all the way down. "AAAAAAAAAAH!"
"Spike!" Twilight quickened her pace in order to try and save her assistant. Had panic not overtaken her she would have realized that he was never in any danger.
The green and purple dragon closed his eyes as to not see his horrible demise coming. Eventually he stopped falling. Opening his eyes slowly revealed that he had been caught by the fused Saiyan. And when he saw the deadpan look on his friend's face he merely chuckled nervously. "I guess I didn't need to panic did I?"
Vegito merely groaned before touching down onto solid ground. He then set the dragon onto the floor.
"Spike, you're okay!" The purple mare had finally reached the bottom and once she did she instantly ran over and hugged her assistant. It lasted for a few moments before she broke it off. "You really need to be more careful."
"Yeah, sorry about that." He apologized sheepishly.
"It looks like there's only one way to go." The potara fused warrior noted, getting back to the matter at hand.
Twilight walked up to it, smiling as she did so. Her horn then became bathed in a purple glow as she tried to open it. To her surprise the door had moved across the wall. The mare turned around and tried once again to open it, but just like last time it moved.
"What's up with this door?" The drake questioned.
"Hm, I'm guessing there's some sort of magic keeping ponies from opening it." Vegito mused as he watched the mare struggling to keep up with the constantly moving exit. The only reason he wasn't helping her was because it was her test, and she was already against him and Spike being there.
After a few failed attempts Twilight had had enough. Once the door became stationary she began casting the same spell on it that she used to get down to it in the first place. A black and purple beam shot out of her horn and at the crystal that rested above the door. As her magic touched the crystal the door slowly began to open, revealing a bright white light. "I think this is it!" She cheered as she ran into it.
The others wasted no time in following her.
"Vegito!"
Vegito shook his head vigorously. His eyes then went slightly wide when he discovered he wasn't in the castle any more. "What the? Where am I?" He took a good look around and noticed he was back in Ponyville. And by the looks of things he and his friends were having a picnic of sorts.
"What's wrong sugarcube?" Applejack questioned as she took a bite of her cupcake.
"How did we get here?"
Everypony stared at him in confusion. "What do you mean?" The shy mare asked.
"Don't play dumb with me. We were just in the Crystal Empire trying to find the Crystal Heart." He reminded.
In response to his statement they all started laughing. "Oh Vegito, you're so silly." Pinkie Pie noted in between chuckles. "We already found it."
The fused Saiyan blinked twice in confusion. "We did?"
Twilight nodded. "Yep, and once we found it we were able to defeat King Sombra and save the empire!" She smiled.
"Oh." He muttered in disbelief. It was then that he noticed his hands had returned to normal, which was most likely a side effect of defeating Sombra. "Huh, I don't remember that." He then shrugged and sat down on the grass.
"Here have a cupcake!" The pink pony offered.
Vegito took the dessert and brought it to his mouth. Right as he was about to eat it he heard a strange sound. He diverted his attention to the source of the noise and noticed a huge energy blast heading their way. Reacting quickly he fired one of his own to counteract it, but it did nothing. He tried again but got the same result.
A few seconds later the blast struck the ground, creating a massive explosion. A huge dome of energy was created and was rapidly increasing in size. It eventually became so large that it encompassed all of Ponyville. The ground started ripping apart, and every single building was instantly vaporized. And all the ponies received an instant, yet somehow painful death.
When the smoke finally dispersed the fused Saiyan was the only thing left in tact. He now found himself standing on barren earth. He spared several glances around to find that all of Ponyville had been obliterated. Where the town once stood was now just a giant crater.
"No..." Vegito muttered. He felt around for anypony's ki but couldn't find anything, not that he expected to. He then fell to his knees in anguish. His home had just been demolished, and his best friends had met a tragic end. His eyes soon became filled with tears that quickly spilled down his cheeks. In his pained state he slammed his fists repeatedly onto the ground, destroying the earth even further.
"You were supposed to protect them!"
He looked up to the sky trying to find where the voice had come from. It sounded like Princess Celestia, except pretty distorted. It felt kind of chilling actually.
"You failed!"
Vegito continued slamming his fists into the ground before eventually standing up. As soon as he was on his feet he screamed at the top of his lungs. His fists clenched tighter than ever before, and if it weren't for the gloves his hands would have started to bleed. In an instant his aura came to life, and it was expanding by the second. The already destroyed earth was ripped apart even further. He could feel the ground rumbling beneath him.
After a few moments he ascended into a Super Saiyan, increasing the already intense conditions he was creating. Mountains in the distance were rumbling profusely. Even Canterlot was shaking to the core, almost like it could fall off the mountainside at any moment.
"VEGITO!"
The ground beneath him was being completely torn up, and the cracks were spreading far past the crater. Trees from the Everfree Forest were being uprooted entirely, getting sent flying further into the forest, destroying more trees in the process.
"VEGITO!"
Suddenly everything changed, and the Saiyan found himself back in the castle. Upon finding himself in the castle he slowly stopped unleashing his power. As he did that he could still feel the castle shaking lightly. Vegito took a good look around, feeling genuinely confused as to what just happened. "...Was that all a lie?" Turning to his left revealed his friends huddling together far away from him, no doubt trying to protect themselves from his outburst.
Twilight realized that the shaking had stopped and opened her eyes slowly. She saw her friend standing there in confusion, which was quite the contrast to how he was a few moments ago.
"What just happened?"
"King Sombra's dark magic. A doorway that leads to your worst fear." Twilight explained shakily.
Vegito stared at his hands for a few moments, once again seeing the dark crystals. It was then that he noticed the golden aura around him, as well as the huge power increase. It shocked him a little that he had actually turned into a Super Saiyan. He then powered down and looked around, seeing if he had cause any kind of damage with his outburst. Luckily nothing seemed to be damaged, and he assumed that he only made the castle shake. With a slight sigh of relief he turned towards the others again.
"So... what did you see?" The drake asked while wiping some tears from his eyes.
The Saiyan turned away, not really wanting to answer the question. Not just because it involved the two of them dying, but also because, well... maybe it was just his Saiyan pride talking, but he didn't want them knowing he was crying. Showing weakness just wasn't in his nature, and the fact that he cried seemed like a weakness to him.
Twilight could see the pained look on his face, and that told her everything she needed to know. Obviously she didn't know the specifics, but she was sure that whatever he saw was truly devastating. After all, there were very few things somepony like Vegito was afraid of, so whatever it was was better kept to himself. "I don't think he wants to talk about it." She whispered to her assistant.
Spike just then understood what she meant, and he merely nodded.
The purple mare then shot a different kind of beam at the crystal above the door, this one being the other kind of beam Celestia used back in Canterlot. Once it impacted the crystal a rainbow of colors shot out, and soon after the real door appeared and opened. "Come on guys, we must be getting closer by now."
Vegito wasted no time in walking through the door, and even less time heading up the next set of stairs.
"Hey wait for us!" Twilight called out as she and her assistant followed after him. As she ran she couldn't help but worry a little. 'I hope Vegito will be alright, he seems upset.'
Although the Crystal Faire was proving to be a success the Crystal Empire wasn't anywhere close to being safe. Shining Armor was getting more and more tired by the minute. He had been keeping the barrier up nonstop for who knows how long. And while he had experience doing this that didn't mean he could go on forever. It also didn't help that he had tired himself out by having to constantly watch over the Frozen North.
Due to this the barrier would flicker every now and then, changing the bright happy landscape into the frozen wasteland it actually was. And it didn't help that King Sombra was right outside, simply waiting for the right time to make his move.
In order to keep the ponies happy, and from realizing that the Crystal Heart they had was a fake, the Element Bearers worked hard to keep the faire going. This involved Fluttershy having to joust with Rainbow Dash, which completely terrified the shy pegasus. She didn't win any matches, and really wanted to stop, but she kept going in order to help the empire.
Rarity continuously made baskets. It was just basket after basket after basket. The demand quickly became bigger than the supply, and the unicorn soon found herself out of materials. So she ran over to where Applejack was to explain the situation, and to see how she was doing in keeping the phony relic hidden. Upon reaching her friend she noticed lots of ponies were eager to see the Heart. "Excuse me, pardon me..." The pony moved past them and went straight to the farmpony. "I am running out of weaving materials for the traditional crafts booth! I just made a hat out of three pieces of hay and a drinking straw! I made it work. But still!"
"We gotta do everything we can to keep this thing goin'. Shining Armor isn't lookin' so good. I can't imagine his magic is gonna last much longer, and Cadance is still sleepin'. It's gonna be fine. These ponies are gonna power up that Crystal Heart when the time comes, and we won't be needin' his magic anyway."
"I sure hope that time comes soon!" Pinkie Pie had also been nearby, and she was riding a giant ball while juggling several flugelhorns. "Even I can't keep this party going forever!" She eventually lost her balance, and the ball flew out from underneath her.
The ball flew through the air and hit the covered up Crystal Heart. The hit caused the fake Heart to fly off the pedestal and slide across the floor. Everypony gasped lightly upon seeing the false artifact. "This isn't the Crystal Heart." One pony noted.
More ponies gathered around the phony Heart and soon enough an entire crowd was formed. And everypony was wondering what was going on.
"Oh, of course it isn't." Rarity chuckled nervously. "The real one is–"
"On it's way!" Applejack blurted out.
"I was going to say 'being polished' to buy us some more time?" The unicorn whispered.
The farmpony quickly realized her mistake. "Opps."
Just then the barrier flickered even more, and King Sombra's laugh echoed throughout the empire. Everypony soon realized who that laugh belonged to, and that made them all run away in fear.
The unicorn, the dragon, and the Saiyan were practically sprinting up the long set of stairs. They all had a feeling that the real Crystal Heart was near, so they weren't going to stop until they reached the top. Of course, this was easier said than done, at least for the baby drake. He wasn't quite used to so much running. He found himself getting winded pretty easily.
Twilight, who was already almost at the top, called out to her assistant. "How's it going down there Spike?"
"Oh you know, j-just fine." He panted.
Vegito descended next to the worn out dragon, now floating in the air right next to him. "Do you think you can keep going?"
"H-honestly... no." Spike admitted. As much as he wanted to prove he could handle it he just couldn't go anymore. At this point he was only slowing them down.
The Saiyan reached over and grabbed him. "You did great Spike. And you should expect more of this when you actually start training." He told him as he flew up towards the top.
'Great.' The purple drake thought sarcastically.
A few seconds later the two of them landed at the top. They waited there for only a few moments before the purple mare caught up with them.
Once she reached the top Twilight smiled brightly. Floating right in the middle of the tower was the Crystal Heart. There was nopony guarding it, no kind of defenses around it, it was just there. She looked over at her friends and noticed Spike encouraging her to go get it. She could see Vegito looking hesitant but figured that was just him being paranoid.
Speaking of the fused Saiyan, he was studying the scene carefully. It just seemed really convenient that the Crystal Heart was just out in the open. He expected some kind of resistance, or even a booby trap. Yet here it was, ready for the taking.
Meanwhile the conditions outside were starting to get worse. The harsh winds that blew were an indication that the barrier was slowly dying, and at this rate wouldn't last too much longer.
Luckily the real Crystal Heart had finally been found. The unicorn moved closer to the Heart, not at all worried about any kind of surprise traps. As she walked she ended up stepping on a circular design on the floor, which upon being touched turned black. Twilight instantly started to panic.
It took Vegito only a few moments to realize what was going to happen next, but by that time it was too late. "Twilight!"
A ring of huge black pillars shot out of the ground, trapping the unicorn inside. It also sent the Heart sliding across the floor over to the others.
The fused warrior ran over to the crystal barrier and punched a section of it. His fist managed to break through the crystal but it instantly reformed itself. Several more attempts were made to break it but no matter what it always reformed. "Ugh, stupid magic!" He yelled.
"The Heart... Where's the Crystal–"
"Here!" Spike yelled. "It rolled over to me when you dropped it!"
"Don't move!" The unicorn yelled to her assistant.
The drake stood in place as tons of smaller pillars of crystals rose up out of the ground. He held his breath as he avoided the sharp crystals.
"You can move, just not toward me!"
Vegito then noticed that the barrier wasn't covered at the top, which meant he wouldn't have to break the crystals at all. With a mighty jump he was in the air, hovering right over the gaping hole. He landed right next to the unicorn. Right as he was about to grab her and leave the barrier expanded until it covered them entirely.
"Oh no!" The mare said.
"Damnit!" The potara fused Saiyan once again punched the barrier but this time nothing happened. "What?" He tried again but got the same result. "He must have increased the strength of the crystals." 'This is why I hate magic!'
"How could I have been so foolish? I was just so eager to get it! Then when I saw what was going on outside, I..."
"Now's not the time for this Twilight!" Vegito exclaimed.
"You have to get out of there, Twilight! You have to be the one who brings the Heart to Princess Cadance! If you don't, you'll fail Celestia's test!" Spike reminded.
Just then the sky changed from a bright blue, to a dark orange. But this time it stayed that way, which meant that the protective shield had finally worn off. Soon after the screams of the Crystal Ponies could be heard, as well as the maniacal laughter of King Sombra.
"Guys, I think the shield's down." The drake noted in fear.
In that moment Twilight realized that there was only one way to save the empire now. And although she didn't really want to she knew it was the only choice. "Spike, you have to be the one to bring the Crystal Heart to the Faire."
"Me? But Twilight-"
"Go!" She yelled.
"But-"
"Spike it's up to you now. I know you can do this!" The Saiyan shouted, more than loud enough for him to hear.
Hearing the encouraging words of Vegito filled the drake with confidence. If somepony like him thought he could do it, then who was he to object. So he grabbed the Crystal Heart and exited through one of the openings of the tower.
Meanwhile Twilight was still trying to figure out how to escape the prison she and her friend were currently in. "Any ideas?"
Normally, Vegito would have simply used his ki to destroy the barrier, but thanks to King Sombra he couldn't unleash ki through his hands. Which meant that there was nothing he could do to escape... unless... "Twilight, I have an idea. You might want to get behind me."
Shining Armor laid on the balcony breathing heavily. He looked up with pain as King Sombra slowly crept through the Crystal Empire. The natural color of the crystals turned black and gray whenever the evil king passed them. And as much as the unicorn wanted to fight back he couldn't. Shining Armor was completely drained. "I'm sorry, everypony..."
The present members of the Mane 6 had gone up the balcony, figuring that it would be safer up there. "Now, don't y'all worry your pretty, little Crystal heads! The real Crystal Heart will be here any second!" Applejack yelled out to the panicking ponies.
"I don't know if they believe you..." Rarity whispered to her friend.
"Don't know if I believe me." She answered.
"He's back! I can't take it!" One pony started running away in fear, only to bump into some dark crystals. Upon regaining her senses she looked up to find the disembodied head of the evil king. "King Sombra...!"
"My crystal slaves..." The king hissed as he looked at all of the fearful ponies.
Meanwhile Spike was making his way down towards the balcony, all the while avoiding increasing number of spikes jutting out of the crystals. Eventually he landed on a sturdy section of crystal. "Hey! Up here!"
"Spike?" The generous mare questioned as she and the others looked up towards the source of the yell. And sure enough Spike was standing above them, holding the real Crystal Heart in both hands.
King Sombra saw the heart and growled. "That is mine!" He yelled as he thrust himself into the ground, creating a huge black spot. Soon after dark crystal pillars began forming along the ground, and they created a sort of path, one that led to the castle.
Just then, loud shouting was heard and it was coming from the castle. A few moments later a huge explosion was heard. Everypony looked up and saw a gigantic beam of blue light shooting out of the castle. They all stared on with wide eyes as it traveled far into the horizon, seemingly going on for miles on end. It was nothing like they had ever seen before, it was amazing!
The unicorn king paused for a moment and also stared at the strange beam. It didn't take him long to figure out that the beam wasn't created by a pony, as no unicorn held that much power. He then remembered encountering a strange bipedal creature in blue who did pretty much the same thing.
Spike soon found himself losing his balance, due to the intense conditions the beam created, and ended up falling off the crystal he was standing on. That also meant the Crystal Heart was falling as well, and the drake was doing everything in his power to get it back.
King Sombra shook his head and returned his attention towards the Crystal Heart, which was falling towards him. An evil grin appeared on his face as he fully regained his body. With his body back he used his magic to raise the crystal he was standing on, moving himself closer to the falling relic. Right before he could get it the Heart suddenly vanished, as well as the tiny dragon. "Huh?"
The purple dragon now found himself safely in Vegito's arms. "Vegito!" He cheered.
"You can thank me later!" He told his friend as he set him down on the balcony. He the gave the Heart to the drake. "Hold on to this."
"Okay but-" He never got to finish his thought as his friend was already flying towards Sombra.
Sombra glared at the stranger. "You!"
Vegito smirked. "Sorry King Sombra but you won't be taking over the Crystal Empire any time soon. Oh, and this is for what you did to my hands!" In an instant he brought both hands to his forehead. "SOLAR FLARE!" A bright light shot out from the Saiyan and blinded everyone in his path, which in this case was the evil king.
"GAH!" The king screamed out in pain as he struggled to open his eyes. He then started thrashing about wildly, unable to stop his eyes from burning.
The fused Saiyan then rejoined his friends. "Well I slowed him down."
"That's great an' all, but how ar' we gonna use the Crystal Heart?"
"I believe I can help with that."
Everypony turned and saw Princess Cadance and Twilight standing in the entry way. The princess looked much better than she had when they first saw her. Cadance grabbed the Crystal Heart with her magic and flew down towards the crowd.
The Crystal Ponies all murmured and chattered among themselves, unsure of who the strange pony was. One pony was actually able to identify the mysterious mare. "Behold! The Crystal Princess!"
Cadance landed on the ground, crushing the fake Heart in the process. "The Crystal Heart has returned. Use the light and love within you to ensure that King Sombra does not." She placed the real relic in the spot and it became held up by two pillars, which appeared when the Heart entered it's resting place.
As soon as that happened all of the Crystal Ponies became crystallized. They then bowed down before the Heart, causing the ground beneath them to light up with a blue glow.
The king recovered his eyesight a few seconds earlier, and when he could finally see he saw a horrible sight. "What? No... No! Stop!"
Every single road lit up before the blue light returned to the Crystal Heart. Upon doing so the Heart started spinning around rapidly. After a lot of rotations another blue light was sent out, one that counteracted all of King Sombra's magic. It also turned everypony who wasn't already crystal into crystal.
When the light reached Sombra he found himself getting torn apart. He screamed out in pain as he was slowly being destroyed. And after only a few seconds he had been killed once and for all.
Not a moment later a beam shot out of the tip of the crystal castle, and once it hit the sky a huge explosion of light shot out. It managed to not only clear away the darkness of the Frozen North, but also create some kind of aurora borealis that could be seen across all of Equestria.
When all was said and done Princess Cadance landed on the balcony, and was instantly hugged by her husband; who had been revitalized by the power of the Crystal Heart.
Vegito sighed in relief when he noticed his hands were back to normal. The weird part was that he too had become crystallized. He didn't think it would have happened to him. It was pretty strange, and his body certainly felt weird. He then began to wonder how it would be fighting in this form. Being made of crystal certainly made his already tough body even tougher.
'Hm, I wonder...' Wanting to test something out he transformed into a Super Saiyan. And the instant he did that the entire balcony was lit up. His crystallized body seemed to reflect the already bright light of his Super Saiyan aura, thus making it even more intense. It was as if a star was hanging right above the castle. 'I have to admit, this is pretty awesome.'
"Woah!" Was the response of his friends as they struggled to keep their eyes open.
Everypony down below was also blown away by the sudden blinding light. They had never seen anything like it before.
Figuring that he had shown off enough, and not wanting to potentially blind his friends, he returned to normal. When he noticed the stunned looks of his friends he grinned.
"Gosh, and ah thought that Solar Flare was bad." Applejack joked.
"That was super awesome!" Rainbow commented.
A question then came to Spike's mind. "So how did you and Twilight escape anyway?"
Vegito chuckled. "It was simple really. Since I couldn't break the crystal, and because my hands were still blocked, I fired a Kamehameha Wave with my feet. I broke the barrier and Twilight and I were able to escape. I then sent her to get Cadance while I came to help all of you."
"Wait, you can fire Kamehamehas with your feet?" Pinkie questioned.
"Yep. I can unleash my ki through my hands, my feet, or even my mouth. And I find that using my hands is the best option."
They were all still stunned that he could fire deadly energy beams from his feet. The list of incredible things he could do was constantly growing. And just when it looked like he was out of surprises Vegito always had something up his sleeve.
Another question came to Spike's mind, one that was directed towards Cadance. "So did you sleep through everything that happened, even the entire castle shaking?"
"Actually yes, I did. I must have been more tired than I thought." She explained with a smile.
Shining Armor had also felt the rumbling, and figured Vegito was the cause. The yelling was also a good indication of who was behind it. "You sure caused quite the commotion, I thought the entire castle was going to fall apart!" He joked.
Not wanting to think about that the Saiyan cleared his throat. "Yeah." He chuckled nervously.
His friends, minus Twilight and Spike, were all curious as to what exactly happened. But they decided to hold their questions until later, especially because he didn't look like he wanted to talk about it.
"Well, it's been fun, but I think we all better get going." The fused warrior noted as he prepared to teleport to Canterlot.
Shining Armor then looked over to his sister and noticed just how nervous she looked. So he placed a comforting hoof on her shoulder. "Everything's gonna be okay." He smiled. "You've gotta stop saving my rump like this. It's starting to get embarrassing."
"Wasn't me who saved you in the end. It was Spike." The purple mare stated.
"It's just a test. Maybe she'll let you retake it."
Twilight walked over to the Saiyan sadly. "I don't think she's gonna give me a new test." She placed her hoof onto his leg.
Once all his friends had done so Vegito used Instantaneous Movement to bring them all to Canterlot.
Twilight was standing in the throne room with her mentor. To say she was nervous was a big understatement. While the Crystal Empire had been saved it wasn't exactly her who saved it. And the unicorn was sure that she wouldn't get credit for Spike's heroic deed, which earned him his own stained glass window depicting said deed.
Despite Twilight's insistence on going alone Vegito had gone with her. He gave her a few encouraging words before her meeting with the princess. And now he was standing outside the door, waiting for the moment of truth.
"It's beautiful." Celestia commented as she stared at the borealis, which was still visible in the sky.
"I wish it had been me who ultimately made it so. But it wasn't." The unicorn lamented.
"Twilight, as I understand it, Spike brought Princess Cadance the Crystal Heart because you weren't sure how quickly you could find a way to escape the tower. You weren't willing to risk the future of the citizens of the Crystal Empire in an effort to guarantee your own. Far better that I have a student who understands the meaning of self-sacrifice than one who only looks out for her own best interests."
Hearing that left Twilight shocked. "Does this mean...?"
The princess nodded, all the while smiling brightly.
"I passed!" She exclaimed before running around with excitement. "Oh thank you princess!" The mare hugged her teacher tightly.
A few seconds later the door opened and Vegito walked in. "So it looks like I was right all along." He smiled.
Twilight ran over to hug him.
In a rare moment he leaned down and picked her up. He then wrapped his arms around her and returned her embrace. If it weren't for his vision earlier he might not have done that, but he figured one hug wouldn't kill him. "I'm proud of you." He told her as he set her down.
"Thank you Vegito, you're a true friend."
He rubbed the back of his head sheepishly in response to the compliment.
Twilight then ran out of the room so she could tell her friends the good news.
Once she was gone Vegito looked towards the princess. There was a question on his mind, one that he had been holding onto before he even set foot in the Crystal Empire. "Earlier you mentioned that once Twilight passed the test she would be ready for the next part of her studies."
"Yes." She answered in a carefree tone.
"What exactly did you mean by that?" He asked with a raised brow.
The alicorn chuckled. "I'm afraid I can't tell you that. Just know that there will be more tests to come, ones that should truly put her friendships to the test." She chuckled at her little joke. Her laughter continued for a few seconds before stopping.
The Saiyan grinned. "You have something planned don't you?"
"It's a secret." She winked.
Figuring that he would find out soon enough he decided to drop it. "Well, it was good to see you." He placed two fingers to his forehead.
"Aren't you going to join your friends?"
"No, they're singing." With that he teleported back to his ship.
Princess Celestia laughed a little bit before heading out of the throne room.
That's a rap. I apologize once again for the delay, but I was celebrating the 4th with some family that is out of town. Anyway I hoped this chapter was worth the wait. I originally wasn't sure if Vegito was going to tag along with Twilight but decided it worked out better than him being at the faire. Plus we got to see his biggest fear, which was him losing his new friends. I thought it was legitimate. Be sure to RandR and have a fantastic night!
FutureShock